Community Solar

Last year a rule was passed (SB 1547) that allows Community Solar in Oregon, meaning people of ALL housing types can take part in the solar movement! If you owned no roof at all, you could still own part of a solar installation and get discounts on your power bill each month. The law also stated that 10% of what’s generated must benefit low-income households.

For the last year, thanks to funding from Bonneville Environmental Foundation, we have been advisors to the Public Utility Commission in their rule-making process to help ensure that the new low-income program would be accessible and relevant to the people we serve.

To stay informed ourselves, we talked with with 87 of our participants, asking their opinions about issues surrounding solar, climate change, green jobs, affordable electricity, and more.Read the Results here in PDF form!

It is nice that you do so much for the renters ! That also gives the property owner a boost in his pocket but what about the little old lady that can just barely afford food ,taxes ,and a car that just barely runs .

We’ve been working very hard to help our most vulnerable community members (seniors, people with disabilities among them) get access to long-term bill-savings. Stay tuned and we will have more updates on this soon!

Hi Linda,
What we hope to see as a result of this legislation is just that! For people to take part in solar regardless of what kind of home you live in! Stay tuned – after January we will be making more announcements about how to get involved as a stakeholder as the program is designed.